1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fuel cell apparatus, and it particularly relates to a fuel cell apparatus which runs on liquid fuel.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, much attention has been focused on the direct methanol fuel cell (hereinafter referred to as “DMFC”) as a form of fuel cell. With a DMFC, methanol, which is the fuel therefor, is directly supplied to the negative electrode without having it reformed, and electric power is produced by an electrochemical reaction between methanol and oxygen. Methanol has higher energy per unit volume than ion proton, can be easily stored, and is far less prone to explosion. Because of these advantages, there are growing expectations of the DMFC being used as a power supply for automobiles, portable equipment or the like (see, for example, Reference (1) in the following Related Art List).
Related Art List
    (1) Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-32154.
To utilize a fuel cell system as a power supply in a mobile device, it is further required that such a fuel cell system be made smaller in size and lighter in weight. The inventors of the present invention have thus contemplated from various angles technologies that can improve fuel cell systems by making them smaller and lighter.